Refrigerator messages doomed

“According to a Discovery Channel/Science program playing now on our hot-sh!t new digital cable hookup, the earth's magnetic field is fading fairly rapidly. If the rate keeps up, it will be gone in about 2,000 years (down 15% since 600AD).

Then, no compasses, no Northern Lights. Man, I'm glad I won't be around to backpack under those conditions.

(Of course they have no idea if the field might regain strength at some point or just freak us out and reverse polarity or axis, as it has in the past.)”

“Wow thats strange.”

“Sounds like we're on our way to a reverse....”

“this is a subject for Marvin Gardens! hehe



that does seem crazy!”

“Did they say why this is happening?”

“No Northern lights that would suck.

Oh ya where is MG?”

“Your expertise is needed to generate and promote a conspiracy theory to explain this phenomenon. We're counting on you.”

“No Chit! A reversal?

So much for magnetic declination.”

“Well, if MG won't give us a hint, if 600 or so is the date it started waning, what happened around then that might have gotten the ball rolling? Blame it on the Romans' decline?

It was nice of the show to throw this kind of data into our laps, then move on to other aspects of magnetism. I did learn that electromagnetism is one of the four basic forces, along with gravity, the "large" force that holds atomic structure together, and the "small" force that is involved in the slow degradation of that atomic structure. I knew I should have taken physics in school.”

“Are we sure that Pekka is not and never has been remotely reminiscent of Marvin Gardens, the Dear Boy Himself?

Perhaps maybe no?


Particle Physics -- there's links and links.

I heard a rumor going around that after the Northridge quake the folks were thinking of changing the name of SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) to SPLAC (Stanford Piecewise Linear Accelerator Center).

Somebody say magnetosphere?

My, look at the time! I *did* tell you guys that I was a vampire, didn't I? Good. I'm just waitin' fer Buffy to show up... *G*”

“Tilt we are going to call you MG Jr from now on......:)”

“Anything but That!!!

Well, Almost anything...”

“Tilt - Thanks. Looks like a lot of good reading.”

“I have barely enough energy to maintain my one actual persona, let alone another trollish one. No MG here.

At least we have one more excuse for getting lost now. "Dang magnetic field was just too weak for my compass to pick up." To which the answer will be the "new MSR compass booster," in titanium of course.”

“I skimmed thru a few of those NASA blurbs about the magnetosphere, but didn't see anything it weakening. One thing that did occur to me is that the magnetosphere intercepts the charged particles of the solar wind and it would be better to have one than not... kinda like how the Ozone Layer filters out the ultraviolet.

I don't know how much trouble that might cause, but it might make things 'interesting.'”

“Dang, I thought I was onto something for a second there... *G*

Who's the preeminent troll hunter in these parts?”